


Won't You Tell Us of the Clouds?

by alec_grumpy_cat (TideNightWalker)



Series: Shadowhunters/TMI Fics [7]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 'cause Valentine's cray-cray, Canon-Compliant up to 2x09-ish, How Do I Tag, Kidnapping, Mental Illness, Multi, and a 2x09 sneak peek, and my precious bby Alec def needs some emotional therapy, based off some of the 2x10 stills, that's why Dot's there, yayyysies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-25 18:28:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9838049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TideNightWalker/pseuds/alec_grumpy_cat
Summary: When the Institute is under attack by the Circle, Alec goes missing.Izzy's still benched and battling her addiction to Yin Fen.What will happen to them?[title from "Ruby" by twenty one pilots]





	1. Try to Love Me, and I'll Try to Save You

**Author's Note:**

> well, i should be finishing other fics but oh well!!
> 
> Enjoy, lovelies!

Alec  _ hated _ Institute attacks.

 

They happened rarely, and they were an  _ attack _ , so Alec had to defend the Institute, but they were just so rushed and crowded.

 

The whole institute scrambling around like ants made it difficult to move, and Alec’s first experience with an Institute attack was when he was ten. It was insanely intense for a ten year old, even one as stingy and mature as Alec had been.

 

Most of their warriors rushed outside, but their younger trainees stayed inside with Alec and Isabelle, who was training the younger shadowhunters (and Max) while she was benched.

 

Alec sighed. “We need to make sure nothing’s getting inside the Institute from other places,” Alec pulled an arrow from his quiver, and made his way out of  the ops area. “Iz, keep an eye on Max and the trainees.”

 

“Alec, wait-” Izzy and Max started to say, but Alec was already gone. Not like they could help, anyway. 

 

Alec searched and searched until he came along a pair of shadowhunters with ugly circular runes on their necks.

 

He shot them with two arrows in quick succession. When they fell, they revealed Valentine, wearing a smirk.

 

Alec aimed an arrow.

 

Valentine raised an eyebrow, smirk falling. “Alexander Lightwood. Why, you’ve grown. The last time I saw you, you were just a small baby.”

 

Alec sneered, and released his arrow. It hit a barrier that shimmered at the point of contact.

 

Alec growled. “Why are you here, Valentine?!”

 

“I heard you were Jonathan’s  _ parabatai _ ,” Valentine drawled, smirk returning.

 

Alec stiffened.

 

Max came around the corner. “Alec, there you-” He stopped short of his sentence, gasping.

 

“So you go by ‘Alec,’ hmm, Eldest Lightwood?” Valentine replied. “Jonathan’s told me about you.”

 

Alec clenched his bow in his hands. “You didn’t answer my question. Why the hell are you here?!”

 

Valentine’s smirked turned into a devilish and gruesome smile. “You’ll find out soon, Alec.”

 

Two Circle members jumped out of a window in front of Valentine’s bubble barrier.

 

“Ale-!”

 

Alec spun around, where Max was being restrained by a burly Circle member.

 

“You want me,” Alec realized as Circle members grabbed his arms, forcing him to drop his bow.

 

Max screamed against the Circle member’s hand, struggling and squirming.

 

The Circle members forced him to spin around to face Valentine.

 

“You’re a smart boy, aren’t you?” Valentine drawled. “Knock them out. Leave the child.”

 

Before Alec could struggle, his vision went black.


	2. Don’t Look In Too Graphic (i stand alone beside you)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the Institute attack.
> 
> "I stand alone and curse at the sky//I stand alone beside you//  
> I've never felt so alone in my life// I stand alone beside you//  
> Don't look in//too graphic//like people// like plastic."  
> -"Like People, Like Plastic" by AWOLNATION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay!
> 
> Enjoy, lovelies!
> 
> [Chapter Title and summary from "Like People, Like Plastic" by AWOLNATION]

When Alec hadn’t come back for a half an hour, Izzy started to panic. 

 

She panicked even more when she noticed Max was gone. She should’ve kept an eye on him; he was way too sneaky for his own good!

 

When Aldertree entered through the doorways along with most of the warriors, announcing that the enemy had retreated, Izzy ran to find Alec and Max.

 

“Max!” Izzy shouted. “Alec! Where are you two?!”

 

“Izzy?” A small voice asked from a hallway she nearly passed. Izzy skidded to a stop and looked down the hallway. 

 

There was Max, on the floor, squinting at her. Izzy sighed in relief.

 

“Max!” She ran to him, falling to her knees and helping him sit up. 

 

“I’m fine, Izzy,” Max huffed.

 

“Max, why did you run off?!” Izzy scolded him. “There was an attack on the Institute, you knew that! You could’ve gotten hurt!”

 

“I was trying to help Alec,” Max’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry Iz.”

 

Izzy smiled sadly. “It’s ok, Max. Tell me next time.”

 

“You wouldn’t have let me go!” Max complained. Izzy laughed, and shrugged a shoulder noncommittally.

 

“Wait, Max,” Izzy frowned. “You wanted to help Alec, right?” Max nodded. “Where’d he go, then?”

 

Max’s eyes widened. “He got taken by a balding man with this weird red circle on his neck! And other guys with the same circle!”

 

Izzy gasped. “Oh no.”

  
“What? What’s wrong, Izzy?” Max frowned as Izzy helped him stand.

 

“Nothing, Max,” Izzy smiled fakely. “Go back to the ops center. Tell Mandy that I told her to handle a bit of basic training for you and the other young ones.”

 

Max frowned at her fake smile, but went off to go find Mandy. He knew that fake smile, it was just like his mother’s, and it meant that something was definitely wrong; he was “just too young to understand.”

 

As soon as Max was out of earshot, she pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Magnus’ number.

 

“Magnus, we have a problem. It’s about Alec.”

 

* * *

 

 

Magnus, Izzy, Jace, Clary, and (by extension) Simon were gathered in Magnus’ loft.

 

“Alec got kidnapped by Valentine?” Jace frowned. “Are you sure?”   
  


Isabelle crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip and eyebrow. “Max described Alec’s kidnappers as ‘guys with big red circles on their necks.’ Are you suggesting that Max lied?”

 

Jace huffed. “Well, no, but kids have weird imaginations.”

 

Clary scrunched up her nose as she hung off Simon’s arm. “Max seems a little serious for an imagination.”

 

Magnus snapped his fingers, making the Shadowhunters stop in their argument. “There is a debate in who kidnapped Alexander, but there is no doubt that he was kidnapped. We need to find him.”

 

Jace nodded. Isabelle put her hands on her hips. “Magnus is right.”

 

“How do you suggest we find him?” Clary replied. “If he was kidnapped by Valentine, how are we going to find Alec? We had a hard enough time finding Jace, and Jace went semi-willingly.”

 

Magnus flexed his fingers in thought.    
  


 

“We’re not using parabatai tracking,” Jace said. “No exceptions. I’m not risking either of us dying.”

 

Magnus stared at Jace incredulously. “I assumed that was a given.”

 

“It is,” Isabelle cut in, slapping Jace’s bicep. “No one wants to risk that again, Jace.”

 

“Well, how are we going to find Alec?” Clary asked. “What if he wasn’t kidnapped by Valentine?”

 

Magnus sighed. “So far, it’s our only lead, and our only option.”

 

“That settles it, then,” Jace concluded. “We’re heading to Valentine’s ship. Izzy and I will try to get a few shadowhunters to join us. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

 

“I can ask Luke for help,” Clary piped up. “He’d probably help.”

 

“Maia would, too,” Simon chimed. 

 

A scowl flitted over Clary’s face, gone as quickly as it appeared. “Yeah.”

 

Magnus nodded. _That would definitely work._

 

No one moved.

 

"Well, go!" Magnus ordered. "We're wasting time here!"

 

And just like that, the hesitation in the air snapped clean in two, and everyone moved, almost at once. 

Clary and Simon ran to get Luke and his pack, Isabelle and Jace headed to the Institute.

 

Magnus hoped that would be enough to save Alexander.

 

It had to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter title from "Lovely" by twenty one pilots


End file.
